In the Garden: Cold weather colour

Brian Minter makes containers with plants that can be later placed in spring gardens. VanDusen Botanical Garden turned to him for its annual fundraiser.

Photographed by:Les Bazso, Vancouver Sun

When VanDusen Botanical Garden was planning its annual fundraising gala for September, it decided it would be fun to have a whole bunch of winter containers to auction off.

To make it happen, they next turned to the man who has been pioneering the concept of winter containers for the past 20 years: B.C. gardening guru Brian Minter, owner of Minter Country Gardens and Minter Gardens in Chilliwack.

They knew that Minter not only understood the idea behind a winter container, but also knew the best people to get them made to raise the most money.

The result was a total of 48 containers from various garden centres and nurseries throughout the Lower Mainland. They sold at the gala for about $100 each.

In the process, Minter showed his own unique talent for creativity.

To give a container full of yellow orchids a little extra oomph, Minter had some large stems of bamboo cut from the garden and stuffed into the pot to add a touch of drama and architectural interest. It worked.

In fact, it worked so well that at the end of the show, VanDusen didn’t want to let go of the planting.

“This is so beautiful,” organizers told Minter, “we are going to keep it here.”

It is not a new idea to plant a container full of colourful plants and foliage texture for winter, but it apparently it is a project a lot of gardeners still tend to ignore. Minter thinks it is a big mistake not to do one for your front entrance or balcony or patio.

“We had beautiful weather in early fall followed by weeks of horrible weather. We need outdoor containers to give us another four to six months of colour and interest.

“After all my years of promoting this idea, I still think a lot of people have not got their minds around it. We need to celebrate the arrival of this new season.

“It is the shortest, darkest time of the year. If ever there was a time that we need to lighten and brighten our spirits, it is during the winter season.”

Winter containers are suitable for all gardens and even for people living in apartments or condos with a balcony.

“The fact is, even out in the valley where temperatures drop to -25 C, you can still have a beautiful winter container by your front door. It is possible.”

Minter says it all comes down to making the right plant choices.

“Basically, you need to use four key components — hardy foliage, berries, winter flowers and beautiful bark or branches. Use all these elements in combination and you can create something exciting.”

And when it comes to designing a container, Minter says we need to stop thinking of ourselves as gardeners and start thinking of ourselves as artists.

“You are not just putting plants into a pot, you are creating art,” he says. “I saw some words on a display at last year’s Seattle Garden Show that impressed me. They said: ‘In the garden, anyone can be an artist without need for explanation or apology.’ I think that is brilliant. And it is so true when it comes to making a winter container.”

What plants does he think we should be using?

For berries, he thinks we should consider stems of pyracantha, as well as some of the newer cultivars of snowberry (symphoricarpos) and not overlook cotoneaster or the No. 1 berry-bearing plant for winter containers, Gaultheria procumbens (wintergreen).

Heathers are a natural pick, especially beauties such as Erica carnea ‘Golden Scarlet’ and Erica darleyensis ‘Mary Helen’; the first with bright yellow foliage turning yellow-green and the other with white flowers; the latter with yellow-gold foliage turning bronze and producing masses of pink flowers.

“The shrub dogwoods are always a good pick,” Minter says. “Arctic Fire and Midwinter Fire are two of the best.”

Varieties of euonymus, especially ‘Aureo Marginata’ and ‘Silver Queen’, offer leaves with bright variegation that can be very cheery.

For anchor plants in the centre of the pot, Minter is a big fan of the relatively new cultivar of golden Irish yew, Forever Goldie, which has “fabulous golden foliage”, but he also recommends considering some of the dwarf forms of heavenly bamboo, particularly ones like Fire Power and Sienna Sunset that have “amazing yellow and red tones that easy blend with other colours.”

For fillers, he says it’s always good to make use of ornamental grasses, especially the variegated forms of carex and acorus grasses.

“Remember, all these plants can be recycled into the garden in spring, so you get double duty out of them. You don’t throw anything away.”

For those who like the idea, but don’t have the time or inclination to do it themselves, Minter recommends popping into your local garden centre, where he says they will have some ready-made winter containers.

“I think GardenWorks stores, as well as West Coast Gardens in South Surrey, do an excellent job with containers.”

Minter, of course, is being a little modest here. His own store in Chilliwack was one of the first to pioneer the whole concept of a container for winter and also has a fine selection of ready-made planters.

The point is: Winter planters can add colour and vitality to your front doorstep, balcony or patio ... and it is still not too late to do one to provide months of great interest and colour.